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Dingqing Reba Dance

Tibet Culture 597

Dingqing Reba Dance

Every ethnic group in China has its intangible culture that showcases its own characteristics. One of the intangible cultural heritages in Tibet is the Dingqing Reba Dance.

Reba dance dates back to the 11th century. It is a local art, which involves rap,singing,dancing,and drama during the performance. In the old days, the dance used to be performed by the whole family, which earns money through performing. The dance features a time-honored history, abundant contents, unique style, superb skills and strange masks. It has also absorbed the essence of the religious culture and folk art. The dance exists in Tibet's Qamdo, Gongbu, Naqu and other places in Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu.

Dingqing Reba Dance is a comprehensive performance art that combines speaking, singing, dancing, acrobatics and Qigong. It is said that Dingqing County in Qamdo boasted a tropical climate and there were elephants. People at that time fought against the elephants and killed them. People laid their skins on the ground, and danced on them to worship the God. And thus the Reba Dance was created. Hence, Dingqing County can be said to be the birthplace of the Reba dance.

There are three main schools of Dingqing Reba Dance. They are: Gacuo Reba, which is popular in Sezha, is also known as “Sezha Reba”. It has a history of more than 500 years; Wotuo Reba, which is popular in Jue’en, has a history of more than 940 years; Dongluo Reba, which is popular in Sangdo, has a history of more than 300 years. The most well-known one is the Wotuo Reba, which features difficult activities.

The three schools of the dance are similar, all famous for their bold and unconstrained dance movements and difficult dance styles. Their music is characterized by simple and bright, high-spirited and unrestrained, and the main topics are avoiding disasters, celebrating good harvest and praying for their families.

Dingqing Reba is a unique dance that is indispensable from other Tibetan folk dances. After the establishment of the new China, there is a decreasing number of the local performers. But some professional artists learn the local folk arts including Reba Dance from these local performers in an attempt to inherit the traditional arts. On top of that, they have made some reforms to meet the needs of the stage performance. Today, the Reba Dance has been on the domestic and international stages, and has attracted many audience.

In the past, Dingqing Reba was a skill for the folk artists to make a living and was passed down generation to generation in small families. In June 2006, Dingqing Reba was listed as one of the the first intangible cultural heritages of the country by the Ministry of Culture. Since then it has begun to attract the attention of the world.

In 2002, Dingqing County was named as "Hometown of Art Reba" by the People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region. In 2005, it was listed in the first national intangible cultural heritage protection list. In May 2007, Dingqing Reba Dance Performing Team represented Tibet to attend Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo. The performance brought great shock to the audience and was heatedly talked about. And it won the "Golden Sun Bird Award" at China-Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival.

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